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ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

A Journey Through Time: St. Augustine’s Remarkable History and Heritage

Itinerary for Mar 16 — Mar 21, 2014

Description: The Hilton Garden Inn St. Augustine Beach is just a half block from the ocean and only a five minute drive to the downtown St. Augustine Historic District. After your classes and daily trips you may want to enjoy sight-seeing, shopping or just strolling on the beach, You may also want to enjoy our pool and whirlpool; or kick back in a comfortable guest room with microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. Everything. Right where you need it.

Day One: Sunday, March 16 - Registration, welcome and introductions, get acqu...

Registration, welcome and introductions, get acquainted session and learning about the fantastic week you will be experiencing. Sit back, relax and enjoy the week.

Afternoon: Welcome to St. Augustine! Hotel check in begins at 3:30 PM. Road Scholar program registration begins at 4:00 PM in the Garden Room of the Hilton Garden Inn, St. Augustine Beach. Get aquainted session and meet the instructor at 4:30 PM.

Dinner: Buffet style dinner will be catered with amazing food in the restaurant.

Evening: Meet your instructor, review the schedule, orientation, questions, answers and social time will follow dinner. The rest of the evening is yours to relax, swim, enjoy the hot tub, or just settle in for a fantastic week.

Description: The Hilton Garden Inn St. Augustine Beach is just a half block from the ocean and only a five minute drive to the downtown St. Augustine Historic District. After your classes and daily trips you may want to enjoy sight-seeing, shopping or just strolling on the beach, You may also want to enjoy our pool and whirlpool; or kick back in a comfortable guest room with microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. Everything. Right where you need it.

Day Two: Monday, March 17 - Tour of the ancient city of St. Augustine. Lectur...

Tour of the ancient city of St. Augustine. Lectures and a visit to the Fort Castillo de San Marcos and the Mission of Nombre de dios. Have dinner in the beautiful city. Evening entertainment.

Note: St. Augustine's most historically significant structure is the Castillo de San Marcos, a fort constructed by the Spanish between 1672 and 1695.
The Mission of Nombre de Dios traces its origins to the founding of the City of St. Augustine. On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed and proclaimed this site for Spain and the Church. It was at this sacred spot that the Spanish settlers would begin the devotion to Our Lady of La Leche that continues into the present.

Breakfast: In the restaurant. It will be buffet style with the option of ordering anything you don't see at the buffett.

Morning: Lecture on Pre Contact and early Spanish Colonial History of the First Coast. Then board the Red Train for city excursion in the morning.

Lunch: Box lunch will be provided at the train station downtown St. Augustine.

Afternoon: Visit the Mission of Nombre de Dios for a walking tour.
The "Mission of Nombre de Dios" and the "Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche"traces its origins to the founding of the City of St. Augustine, America’s oldest city, in 1565. On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed and proclaimed this site for Spain and the Church. It was here that Menendez knelt to kiss a wooden cross presented to him by Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, chaplain of his expedition. It was on these grounds that Fr. Lopez would celebrate the first parish Mass and begin the work at America’s first Mission. It was at this sacred spot that the Spanish settlers would begin the devotion to Our Lady of La Leche that continues into the present.
Next take a trip to the Fountain of Youth
The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park is a 15 acre waterfront, Historical Site where St. Augustine, Florida began in 1565.
This is the location where Spanish Explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles, in 1565, established the first and oldest continuous European Settlement in the United States of America.
A wonderful time awaits you at the Fountain of Youth. Visitors can:
•See the stars in our Planetarium,
•Visit our Native Timucua Village,
•Watch a Cannon firing,
•Marvel at Spanish Exploration on our two-story high Discovery Globe,
•Learn about the 1565 Birthplace of European America.
•Stroll through a waterfront park where peacocks strut and shady oaks beckon you to stay,
•You can even drink from the legendary waters and see if your visit grants you the secret to eternal youth.
We commemorate the founding of Florida by Spanish Explorer Ponce de Leon and his search for the Legendary Fountain of Youth. We celebrate the Birthplace of Our Nation in 1565 and we invite you to explore it all!
This is where Florida's History all began!

Dinner: Dinner out at one of the great restaurants of St. Augustine and it is right on the beach.

Description: The Hilton Garden Inn St. Augustine Beach is just a half block from the ocean and only a five minute drive to the downtown St. Augustine Historic District. After your classes and daily trips you may want to enjoy sight-seeing, shopping or just strolling on the beach, You may also want to enjoy our pool and whirlpool; or kick back in a comfortable guest room with microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. Everything. Right where you need it.

Day Three: Tuesday, March 18 - Today you will enjoy a visit to the Castillo de S...

Today you will enjoy a visit to the Castillo de San Marcos, have lunch at the Spanish Bakery, visit the St. Photios Greek Shrine, and the Cathedral Basillica. You will then go back to the hotel and later meet Anne Bonney, Queen of the Pirates. Be careful!

Breakfast: In the restaurant. It will be buffet style with the option of ordering anything you don't see at the buffett.

Morning: Vist Castillo de San Marcos... A monument not only of stone and mortar but of human determination and endurance, the Castillo de San Marcos symbolizes the clash between cultures which ultimately resulted in our uniquely unified nation. Still resonant with the struggles of an earlier time, these original walls provide tangible evidence of America’s grim but remarkable history.

Lunch: Enjoy fresh baked breads and spanish foods at the Spanish Bakery which has been featured on the Food Network.
The Spanish Bakery is tucked away in an out of the way garden in the middle of St. Augustine Downtown Historic district right off St. George St. It wont be hard to find if you follow the sweet smell of freshly baked bread coming out of the stone hearth oven every half hour or so, not to mention the empanadas, or the spicy sausage wrapped in a flaky golden crust.

Afternoon: After lunch we will visit St. Photios Greek Shrine with a lecture and a tour. The St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, an institution of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, is dedicated to the first colony of Greek people who came to America in 1768.
With a magnificent Orthodox Chapel filled with Byzantine style frescoes and special exhibits that tell the story of the First Greek Colony in the New World. This freestanding exhibit contains various artifacts, photographs and historical documents.
We will then take a stroll down St. George St. until we get to the Cathedral Basillica of St. Augustine with a lecture and tour.
While Catholicism may have seemed dead in Florida from the arrival of the English, since all the Catholic Spaniards departed for
Caribbean ports, the arrival of a workforce composed of Minorcans, Italians, and Greeks in 1767 at what is now New Smyrna Beach
led to the resurgence of the Catholic faith on the peninsula and, eventually, in the City of St. Augustine. When Andrew Turnbull’s
plantation in New Smyrna began to fail in 1777, the laborers, under the leadership of Francisco Pellicer and Father Pedro Camps,
sought refuge in St. Augustine. With their arrival, a rebirth of the faith in the city took place. When Britain ceded Florida back to Spain in 1784, Spanish Catholicism returned, as well. In 1786, the Spanish crown ordered
the construction of a new parish church for St. Augustine. The property bounded by
St. George Street on the west, Treasury St. on the north and the plaza to the south
was chosen as the site. The cornerstone was laid in 1793 and the church was of the
Immaculate Conception.

Dinner: Catered meal at the hotel, buffet style.

Evening: Enjoy dinner with Anne Bonney, Queen of the Pirates, followed by lecture and entertainment.

Description: The Hilton Garden Inn St. Augustine Beach is just a half block from the ocean and only a five minute drive to the downtown St. Augustine Historic District. After your classes and daily trips you may want to enjoy sight-seeing, shopping or just strolling on the beach, You may also want to enjoy our pool and whirlpool; or kick back in a comfortable guest room with microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. Everything. Right where you need it.

Day Four: Wednesday, March 19 - St. Augustine Lighthouse, lecture, and tour by a ...

St. Augustine Lighthouse, lecture, and tour by a local historian.
Winter months - tour of Villa Zorayda. Summer months - scenic cruise down the Matanzas Bay.

Note: You can also climb the 219 steps to the top of the lighthouse if you desire (weather permitting).

Breakfast: In the restaurant. It will be buffet style with the option of ordering anything you don't see at the buffet.

Morning: We will start the day off with a lecture and slide show from the lighthouse historian and then we will board the Red Trains and go to the St. Augustine Lighthouse for a tour and to climb the 219 steps to the top if weather is permitting. After the lighthouse we will return to the hotel for lunch.
www.staugustinelighthouse.org

Lunch: Lunch will be catered, buffet style in the restaurant area of the hotel

Afternoon: Board Red Train to city marina
Board Scenic Cruise for a tour of Matanzas Bay (when in season)
www.scenic-cruise.com
Since the 1900's St. Augustine Scenic Cruise has been giving visitors to St. Augustine a unique view of the city and a way to enjoy St. Augustine's historic land marks and natural beauty.
When the scenic cruise is not in season we will visit the Village Zorayada, built in 1883 as the winter residence of Franklin Smith utilizing his method of construction of poured concrete and crushed coquina shell. It is built 1/10th the scale of a section of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. This building set a precedence for St. Augustine and began the Moorish Spanish revival of architecture that is seen throughout the city today. In 1904 it became the Zorayda Club. On display for the first time ever is the custom made bone china made exclusively for the Zorayda Club. In 1913 it was purchased by Abraham S. Mussallem, an authority on Oriental rugs fine arts and Egyptian artifacts. In 1922 it became one of the most fashionable places for casino gambling. In the mid 1930's it was opened as a museum featuring the priceless antique collections of both Franklin Smith and A.S. Mussallem which are still on display today. The 45-60 minute tour gives an in depth look at the historical significance of the building to the City of St. Augustine, the magnificent architecture as well as descriptions of the many exquisite pieces you will see. On display is the "Sacred Cat Rug" over 2400 years old and made from the hairs of ancient cats that roamed the Nile River. Taken from a pyramid in Egypt it is said to possess a curse for anyone that walks on it!

Description: The Hilton Garden Inn St. Augustine Beach is just a half block from the ocean and only a five minute drive to the downtown St. Augustine Historic District. After your classes and daily trips you may want to enjoy sight-seeing, shopping or just strolling on the beach, You may also want to enjoy our pool and whirlpool; or kick back in a comfortable guest room with microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. Everything. Right where you need it.

Day Five: Thursday, March 20 - Take a tour of Flagler College. Then we will have...

Take a tour of Flagler College. Then we will have lunch at the beautiful Hotel Ponce deLeon. The rest of your day will be yours to to enjoy the area.

Breakfast: In the restaurant. It will be buffet style with the option of ordering anything you don't see at the buffett.

Morning: Visit Flagler College to view the amazing stained glass windows.
Flagler College was established as a memorial to Henry M. Flagler. The Hotel Ponce de Leon, built by Mr. Flagler, serves as a reminder of his enterprise, diligence, and commitment to high standards. The College is pledged to the preservation and use of this facility and other historic and architecturally unique campus structures.

Lunch: Enjoy a tour of the beautiful Casa Monica Grand Hotel and then have lunch in a private room.

Afternoon: Free time. Using the sticker you will be provided you may choose to get on and off the Red Sightseeing Train as often as you would like. Take this time to visit the area, shop, or visit one of the many sites in town.
You can choose to either stay downtown at this time or go back to the hotel. If you choose to stay downtown you must meet the Red Train at 4:00 at the Villa Zorayda for the only ride back to the hotel. If you miss this Red Train, you will have to take a cab.

Dinner: In the Garden Room

Evening: Meet "The Three Mrs. Flaglers" after dinner in the Garden Room.

Music box presentation and self guided tour through the Lightner Museum.
This program will end after lunch.

Breakfast: In the restaurant. It will be buffet style with the option of ordering anything you don't see at the buffet.

Morning: Spend the morning at the Lightner Museum and enjoy a self guided tour with a special music box presentation.
Enjoy wandering through the museum's setting — the former Hotel Alcazar, built in 1887 in the Spanish Renaissance style. Railroad magnate Henry M. Flagler commissioned architects Carrere and Hastings to design the Alcazar and the Ponce de Leon Hotel (across the street). The two young architects later designed the New York Public Library and the U.S. Senate office building. After years of accommodating vacationing wealthy patrons, the elegant resort hotel closed.

Lunch: Farewell luncheon will be in the restaurant. Safe travels and we hope you come back and see us really soon at this program or one of other GREAT programs! Thank you!

Afternoon: Independent departures after lunch.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Free Time Opportunities

Important information about your itinerary: Please know that while we do everything we can to finalize all aspects of our programs well in advance, there are logistics that occasionally must be altered. Our website will reflect the most recent information, and we are committed to providing you with final program details no later than eight weeks prior to the start of programs outside the U.S. and three weeks prior to the start of programs within the U.S. If you ever have questions about your program, please don't hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

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*Please note that due to the nature of some programs, the remote location or government regulations, listening devices may not be available. If you’d like to know for sure if your program will offer listening devices, just call and ask an Advisor!